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Home-range use by the Central American agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) on Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Enzo Aliaga-Rossel ,
Roland W. Kays  and
José M. V. Fragoso
Enzo Aliaga-Rossel*
Affiliation:
State University of New York, Environmental Sciences and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA
Roland W. Kays
Affiliation:
New York State Museum, 3140 CEC, Albany, NY 12230, USA
José M. V. Fragoso
Affiliation:
Environmental Studies Dept., University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: enzo@hawaii.edu. Current address: 3190 Maile way- St. John 159, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA
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Abstract

This study investigates the movements and home range of the agouti (Dasyprocta punctata) on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. We captured and tracked 12 agoutis from January to December 2003. Home-range size (95% kernel) ranged from 1.56–2.45 ha (n = 6) for males and 1.34–1.97 ha (n = 5) for females. Agouti ranges overlapped and we estimated a density of approximately 100 agoutis km−2. We compared agouti movement with the locations of refuges and food trees, and the results suggest that the agoutis are central-place foragers. Agoutis moved an average of 850 m d−1 covering approximately 35% of their range daily. These movement data help us understand the potential impacts of agoutis as seed dispersers, predicting that D. punctata will encounter and hoard fallen fruit within 10–200 m (i.e. radius of home range) of its source, and move seeds towards refuges such as ground holes and dense vegetation around recent tree falls.

Keywords

agoutiDasyprocta punctatahabitat usehome rangemammal densitypredation riskspace use
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , July 2008 , pp. 367 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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